Woolworths improves in-store fulfilment with Highjump and iWMS

24 May 2017

Leading
South African retailer invests in solution to support in-store fulfilment for
online orders

HighJump, a global provider of supply chain solutions,
announced today that Woolworths (Pty) Ltd, the operating entity of Woolworths
Holdings Limited, has selected HighJump Retail Advantage to improve picking
accuracy and efficiency across its food business’ stores, which act as online
fulfilment centres. This system will ensure a consistent brand experience
across all channels and provide “personal shoppers” easy access to critical
information, providing a painless experience for online customers and will be implemented and supported by SA channel partner, iWMS.

Woolworths has always embraced dynamic store policies
that set it apart from competitors. Woolworths selected HighJump’s in-store
fulfilment solution as part of an initiative to better serve an increasing
number of customers ordering products online. The retailer previously used a
manual, paper-based system that was inefficient. Staging was also difficult due
to the limited space available to sort items into the proper containers.

The retailer sought a flexible solution that could adapt
to its ever-changing business requirements from a partner who understood
Woolworths’ evolving business environment. HighJump Retail Advantage designs
the best pick path for personal shoppers based on the store layout and offers
real-time performance reporting. Woolworths also invested in new trolleys,
totes and crates as well as wearable rugged device scanners to complement this
software.

“HighJump Retail Advantage will help us standardise
processes, increase productivity and improve pick accuracy,” said Zoey Rylands,
Woolworths Head of Selling Operations. “The increased efficiency will enable us
to scale more rapidly across our stores as our eCommerce operations keep
growing. The solution includes valuable reporting tools that will deliver the
key metrics management needs to make informed decisions.”

The system will be implemented within the existing online
footprint of 30 stores.

“This in-store fulfilment system will drive savings for
Woolworths because it minimises picking errors and optimises labour efficiency,”
HighJump Senior Vice President of International Sales David Houser said. “It is
more important than ever before to have the right technology, because retailers
need the ability to create unique business processes to meet changing
requirements. This investment empowers Woolworths to control its own omni-channel
destiny.”

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